War Memorial

The town of Manchester is updating its War Memorial in front of the Municipal Building on York Street.The memorial will include names of service people who served while living in the county's 6th Voting District.Donations from individuals, businesses or civic groups are being accepted to help with the upgrade.Donations can be sent to the Town Office, 3208 York St.The office has applications for anyone wishing to be included on the memorial.The town also is preparing a memorial to honor men and women from the Manchester Election District who served in the armed forces during any armed conflict (World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Bosnia, etc.)

Douglas W. Henley, former executive director of the War Memorial and a Carroll County restaurateur, died Wednesday at his Mount Airy home of pancreatic cancer. He was 67. Douglas Wade Henley was born in Baltimore and raised in Mount Airy. After graduating in 1965 from Mount Airy High School, he enlisted in the Navy, where he served as a machinist's mate third class until being discharged in 1969. From 1998 until retiring in 2012, Mr. Henley was the executive director of Baltimore's War Memorial.

The town of Manchester is working on updating a war memorial in front of Town Hall.The memorial will recognize those from the Manchester area who served in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and other military conflicts. Several names of servicemen from World War II also are missing and need to be added.Applications are available in the town office for those who served in any war. Also needed is a duplicate of the DD No. 214 or discharge papers.The town had planned to rededicate the memorial in November, but has moved the date to 1998.

Today is the 70 t h anniversary of D-Day, the massive invasion of Normandy that cost the lives of 9,000 Allied soldiers. It is a day not only for recalling the heroic efforts of those who stormed the beaches that day but of the World War II generation generally and, by extension, all who have served the United States in uniform during times of war. The tributes to these brave soldiers will flow effortlessly off the tongues of politicians....

Curtis Bay's bright marble war memorial, threatened with the prospect of foreclosure because of an unpaid sidewalk repair bill, is being saved by the kindness of soldiers and sailors.The Chief Petty Officers Association at Fort Meade says it will donate the $7,225 that the American Legion post in Curtis Bay needs to pay Baltimore for repairs to about 200 feet of sidewalk around the monument, at Church Street and Fairhaven Avenue."If people in the military don't care about veterans, who will?"

By Robert A. Erlandson and Robert A. Erlandson,SUN STAFF | August 15, 1997

After six years of discussion and planning, construction of Maryland's World War II Memorial will begin next month near Annapolis, with a dedication planned for next summer.But even as the project moves forward, the War Memorial Commission is pushing to raise more money for the circular structure, with granite panels containing the names of about 6,500 Marylanders who died in the war.Retired Brig. Gen. John F. Burk, the commission chairman, said yesterday that the group must raise $225,000 to meet $300,000 in administrative funds needed to support the project.

INSTEAD OF MOVING a war memorial from one stadium site to another, opening the way to disagreement and continual controversy, there is substantial reason to find a way to maintain both -- the war memorial at the current Memorial Stadium and the one for the proposed new location at Camden Yards. The well-read memorial on the center facade of the stadium was created in 1954. It will not be duplicated in its entirety downtown. This may prove disappointing to World War II veterans and some segments of the public who have emotional ties to what has been a display of prideful recognition.

On a patch of downtown where stinky swampland gave way to Colonial-era gambling dens, where a war memorial rose and later fell on hard times, more change is on the way. The city plans a $1.5 million makeover for War Memorial Plaza, hoping to turn what mostly serves as a gathering place for homeless chess players into a more inviting "front lawn" for City Hall and the growing number of downtown apartment- dwellers. Plans call for raising the sunken plaza closer to street level, adding a fountain and trees, and planting grass in the middle of what is now an almost completely paved city block.

Douglas W. Henley, former executive director of the War Memorial and a Carroll County restaurateur, died Wednesday at his Mount Airy home of pancreatic cancer. He was 67. Douglas Wade Henley was born in Baltimore and raised in Mount Airy. After graduating in 1965 from Mount Airy High School, he enlisted in the Navy, where he served as a machinist's mate third class until being discharged in 1969. From 1998 until retiring in 2012, Mr. Henley was the executive director of Baltimore's War Memorial.

On a patch of downtown where stinky swampland gave way to Colonial-era gambling dens, where a war memorial rose and later fell on hard times, more change is on the way. The city plans a $1.5 million makeover for War Memorial Plaza, hoping to turn what mostly serves as a gathering place for homeless chess players into a more inviting "front lawn" for City Hall and the growing number of downtown apartment-dwellers. Plans call for raising the sunken plaza closer to street level, adding a fountain and trees, and planting grass in the middle of what is now an almost completely paved city block.

The city and state are putting up a $450,000 black steel fence around the downtown War Memorial to stop homeless men and women - some of whom are veterans - from sleeping on the steps under the Greek-inspired columns of the landmark building across from City Hall. Activists who work with the homeless say the new fence, to be complete by mid-June, is a "disappointing" reminder of the ways government has failed to serve vulnerable people. But stewards of the historic structure say the barrier is needed to protect the War Memorial from trespassing and the occasional campfire.

State energy officials and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will unveil a pair of electric vehicle charging stations outside City Hall on Friday, the first on a city public street, officials said. The stations were installed at the corner of Lexington and Gay streets on the War Memorial Plaza. A ceremony to open the stations for use will take place at 11 a.m. General Motors is providing a Chevy Spark vehicle to demonstrate the charging. The stations aren't the first ones available to the public in the city.

Editor: I am writing in regards to the recent article published in The Aegis about the Civil War and my complete distaste for it. While I enjoy reading stories and articles about history, your article seemed to revere the Confederate soldiers. It is a complete a slap in the face to ANY American whose ancestors were slaves! As I read it I wondered if you would have written the article for a Nazi soldier in the same fashion. When anyone tries to whitewash the Holocaust they are immediately shunned, as they should be!

Shouting "Save our jobs" and "Save our kids," more than 500 residents, youth advocates and union members streamed into a meeting Wednesday evening to call for Baltimore's top officials to reverse deep cuts to parks and recreation and preserve the jobs of city workers. The impassioned crowd pleaded with leaders to halt plans to close more than half the city's rec centers and swimming and wading pools, and to fully fund the Recreation and Parks Department, which would be eviscerated in a preliminary budget proposed by Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake's administration.

By PETER HERMANN and PETER HERMANN,peter.hermann@baltsun.com | February 1, 2009

The rally was called "Voices Against Violence," and the voices cut through the icy cold air with a somber fury. The mayor spoke and the police commissioner spoke and the children spoke and the advocates spoke. They wanted the people to rise up and the violence to stop. They wanted more money for programs to help youth and for the governor to not cut back on money for schools. They wanted a symposium on education, health and jobs. They shouted the word "Life" and a man called Brother Truth led them in rhyme: "Too many mothers have cried; too many fathers have lied; too many children have died."

Jim Warlick has been in business through eight inaugurations in 28 years, but he has never seen a frenzy like the one surrounding President-elect Barack Obama. The owner of Political Americana, a souvenir retailer with a store blocks from the White House, said sales have never been better. His five locations have bustled for weeks, with people buying T-shirts, bobbleheads, buttons, paper dolls or other Obama memorabilia. Customers snap pictures in an Oval Office setting at the store, sitting behind a replica of a desk used by various presidents since 1880.

Hampstead seeking veterans who want names on memorialThe Hampstead War Memorial Committee is seeking veterans of any foreign war who are interested in having their names placed on a plaque on the Hampstead War Memorial.A copy of discharge papers, form DD-214 or other proof of military history is required. Families of veterans either killed in action or missing, as well as veterans who live in Alesia, Carrollton, Finksburg, Hampstead, Lineboro, Manchester, . Millers, Snydersburg and Upperco are eligible to have their names placed on a new plaque.

By Michael Dresser and Michael Dresser,michael.dresser@baltsun.com | January 15, 2009

Planners of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration confirmed yesterday that he will speak at Baltimore's War Memorial Plaza on Saturday, even as officials doled out conflicting advice on how to get to the 4:15 p.m. event. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the event, part of a whistle-stop train trip from Philadelphia to Washington, but transportation downtown is likely to be complicated Saturday because of extensive road closures - including a large portion of the Jones Falls Expressway.